Hittite art and architecture: Hittite Architecture

The principal architectural remnant of the Hittite civilization is at Boğazköy, where temple structures and the city walls may be seen. The Hittites developed the bit-hilani, a porticoed entrance hall built with a stairway approach flanked by pillars. Another characteristic form was the double gateway with corbeled arch, decorated with friezes and protected on either side by a threatening beast figure. Among the best-known of these is the lion gate at Hattuşaş, the ancient Hittite capital (c.1600 b.c.). These gate figures were later to be copied and used in the churches of Western Europe. In building interiors wall painting was evidently practiced with considerable sophistication, but only a few fragments of this work remain, principally at Boğazköy and Atchana in N Syria.

See Assyrian art; Phoenician art.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Hittite Architecture
• Art of the Hittite Empire
• Background
• Bibliography

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